A Chicago man admitted today in federal court in Newark to stealing 1,700 electronic devices from Verizon Wireless, worth more than $1 million, by using an elaborate scheme that featured accessing customer accounts, diverting product-shipments and then bribing Federal Express drivers to get the goods, authorities said.

Stephen Gunn, 36, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud before U.S. District Judge Claire Cecchi, said U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman. At his July 15 sentencing, Gunn faces a maximum potential punishment of 20 years in prison, authorities said.

The 1,700 devices he diverted and stole included several hundred Apple iPhones and iPads, Blackberry devices and Motorola phones, authorities said. Court documents show that the crime took place from 2010 to October 2011.

Gunn’s federal public defender attorney could not be reached for comment.

Citing case documents and court statements, authorities said Gunn was able to gain access to the online accounts of dozens of Verizon’s customers, including several customers in New Jersey, although no public information was immediately available explaining how Gunn got the access.

Using the infiltrated accounts, he placed unauthorized orders for electronics products, mostly smart phones and their accessories, authorities said.

Next, Gunn directed that the fraudulently ordered products be shipped via Federal Express to addresses in Texas, including to some addresses that did not exist, authorities said.

At Gunn’s direction, two Federal Express drivers then intercepted the device shipments, removed the goods and re-shipped them to addresses in Illinois given to them by Gunn, authorities said.

Gunn bribed those drivers by paying each of them thousands of dollars, authorities added. According to the federal indictment brought against Gunn, the drivers and co-conspirators were George Greene, of Bell County, Texas, and Marion Samuel Perkins, of Bell County, Texas. They were not charged in the indictment focused on Gunn, and federal authorities in New Jersey did not immediately know if they have been charged separately.